<Kat> Kat laid in her hospital bed tapping her fingers on the sheets that covered her. Dr. Guthrie had left moments earlier, but had left her restrained. Kat knew it was probably a wise idea, especially since her parents were on their way. She knew they'd be there soon, hopefully Chris would stay out of the way so she could deal with that without dragging him into the mess.

<Christopher> Chris had finally been allowed to go in and see Kat. It had been a ridiculously long time, or at least that's how it felt to him. He was running on just coffee and adrenaline. "H..hey." His body pressed against the door frame and he just looked in on her. "They told me you and Paige had a disagreement. You doing okay?"

<Kat> Kat glanced over at the door and rolled her eyes. "Everybody takes everything out of context. We just had a differing view on me needing to stay here. As you can tell, I lost."

<Christopher> "You passed out on the streets Kat." Chris sighed and moved to her bedside. "It's probably better for you to stay where they can help ya get better."

<Kat> "That's what I am told. How long have I been here?" She was trying to calculate the amount of time she had left before her parents showed up.

<Christopher> "Few hours. You scared the ever loving shit out of me...."

<Kat> "Sorry about that and sorry about this. But you need to go." She tried to shoo him out of the room.

<Christopher> "What? Why?" Chris frowned. He was completely at a loss for what to say. He had been waiting to see her for hours and had been extremely worried the whole time.

<Kat> Kat groaned as she heard a very familiar voice in the hallway. "Quick. Hide. Out the door. Something. Somebody called my parents like I am an infant. You aren't supposed to meet the parents. Remember?" Panic seeped through her voice.

<Christopher> "Kat it's not that bad... I mean I'm not that bad right?" Almost in an instant Chris had become self conscious. He knew his suit was a little wrinkled and he probably looked extremely stressed out but not horrible.

<Kat> "It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. Now if you go quickly, you may be able to escape." As she finished, there was a knock at the door. Immediately Kat closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Maybe they'd leave.

<Christopher> Chris sighed a little and went to open the door for who he assumed were her parents. Time for the trial by fire.

<Mrs. Pryde> Mrs. Pryde and Mr. Pryde entered Kat's hospital room as the door opened. Kat's mother ignored whoever opened the door and ran to her daughter. She saw the restraints and gasped. "Oh, Katherine." She moaned. "What happened to you?"

<Kat> There was no response from Kat. She continued to lay there, lightly snoring.

<Mrs. Pryde> Mrs. Pryde gave Chris a once over. "I assume you were one of her teachers at that school . We will be sending someone to pack up her things. That is all. You can go now." Mr. Pryde silently sat down next to Kat's bedside and nudge his daughter.

<Kat> With the nudge from her father, Kat opened her eyes and sighed. "You bastard." She seethed directed towards Chris for ratting her out. Rolling her eyes, "Mom..."

<Christopher> Chris just rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to touch that with a ten foot pole unless Kat asked him for help.

<Kat> "You know Professor, you could leave now. Since you are a bastardly rat." She'd deal with him later. For now she had to deal with her parents. "Mother, I'm fine. Really. You and dad didn't need to fly out here. Just had a little trouble sleeping. But Dr. Guthrie has a plan, and I'll be all set to return to school in a couple of days." She banged her hands against the bed as much as she could with the restraints.

<Mrs. Pryde> Her mother laughed. "Return to school? Katherine Ann you won't be returning to that school. You were supposed to be at MIT but you weren't. You lied to your parents and now that school has made you sick."

<Christopher> "No not being able to control her powers did. And the only place she can learn that is the school your adult daughter wants to return to. Or would you prefer she comes home and gets worse?" Chris was seething with anger and knew better than to keep himself in that situation so he left as Kat had advised.

<Christopher> He made his way into the hall and a little way away from her room so he could give the wall a hard punch, so he could let off some steam.

<Kat> Kat watched as Chris walked out of the room. Seething, she turned back to her parents. "I am an adult. You can't make me leave. Seriously? Seriously. I'm not leaving Boston."

<Mr. Pryde> Kat's dad spoke up from where he was perched. "You will be returning to Chicago young lady. Fact of the matter is you lied to your mother and I. You came to Boston under false pretenses. And it's obvious that you are involved with a teacher." He had picked up on the subtle cues between Chris and Kat.

<Kat> Her father's words burned Kat. She did lie and she was involved with a teacher. But she was a grown adult. " Dad, I truly love you and mom. But it doesn't matter. I am staying in Boston. I have started to build a life for myself here. I have a boyfriend. I'm going to school. I'm HAPPY." She yelled that last bit, hoping that it reached the hallway.

<Christopher> Chris did hear her say she was happy, but he was far to mad at her and her parents reaction to her not being well to give a damn. He wanted to beat the shit out of something but he didn't have anything that he could take a good hit at anywhere near him.

<Kat> A screaming match ensued between Kat and her parents. Kat and her mother went round and round with the issue of her leaving and of the boyfriend until her dad stood up. He said two short sentences to Kat, grabbed her mother and led her out the door. Kat stared in disbelief as they left and she started crying big crocodile tears.

<Mr. Pryde> Mr. Pryde lead Kat's mother out of the hospital room. She was digging in her purse for a Kleenex to wipe away the tears. Mr. Pryde spotted Chris in the hallway and walked over to him. "She's your problem to deal with now. Take care of her... God knows she won't let us do that for her. Good day Christopher." He lead his wife to the elevator and they disappeared.

<Christopher> Chris kind of just stared at her parents for a second watching them walk away. What the fuck was that? He wondered if he should go in and check on her or not now. He was going to at least go to the door and see if she wanted to see him or not, since he was just her professor. "Kat?"

<Kat> Kat just lay in her bed sobbing. She didn't notice the door open as Chris slipped back in the room. Her sobbing was too loud to hear him call out.

<Christopher> "Kat..." Chris moved over to her bed and undid her restraints. "What happened?"

<Kat> Kat grabbed at Chris as he removed the restraints from her hands. She clutched him and continued to sob. She couldn't stop crying.

<Christopher> "It's okay Kat. Everything's going to be okay." Chris kissed her forehead and held her tight to him

<Kat> "No. No its not going to be okay." She attempted to gain her composure, but was failing. "Everything has fallen apart. I might as well pack my stuff and go back to Boston." She leaned into him.

<Christopher> "Kat you need to rest. You aren't getting any at the school and at least here they can help you...." Chris felt horrible about the fact that he couldn't help her.

<Kat> "It doesn't matter. I can get sedatives in Boston or Chicago. And if I am in Chicago at least they will be paid for. I can go to the University of Chicago and finish my degree. Get a job. Provide for myself."

<Christopher> "They can't help you learn to control your powers." Chris pulled back from her a little to look into her eyes.

<Kat> "I'll figure it out on my own eventually." Kat leaned back on her pillow and closed her eyes. " I don't have much of a choice Chris. My dad cut me off. Like canceled my credit cards, no more money cut me off because I lied and went against their wishes. Maybe they are right after all. I belong with them."

<Christopher> "Kat.... you're an adult. You have a job at the school where you're not only earning a degree for free you're also learning to control the powers from people that have gone through the same things as you. I know it's hard when your parents don't support you.... " Chris pressed his forehead to hers. "And at the school you have me? That's incentive right?"

<Kat> "That's right. I have a job at school that pays just enough for essentials and for the car insurance on the car that is being shipped back to Chicago because it belongs to my dad. I'm left with nothing, and that was my choice. I choose you over my parents." Kat prayed a silent prayer that she hadn't made the wrong choice.

<Christopher> "Kat, things'll work out. You have plenty of people on your side. And being the teachers pet does have it's perks." Christopher tried to tease her to cheer her up a little.

<Kat> Kat just stared back at Chris, un-amused by his joke.

<Christopher> "Sorry bad joke I know.... I was just trying to cheer you up."

<Kat> "Fail." She sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm just defeated. I'm broke Chris. I don't know how to do broke. I'm broke, I can't sleep, I'm stressed out, and I am stuck in the hospital. It's been a baaaaad day."

<Kat> "How can I not worry about money?! People who don't have any tend to worry about this kind of thing. This is just one more thing to add on to my pile of stress."

<Christopher> "Because your boyfriend has more than enough to share. And we'll work on the stress stuff, I know plenty of ways to blow off some steam."

<Kat> Kat reached for the box of Kleenex on the table and threw it at his head. She missed. "How can you think about that right now? I'm sick! Although... that would help me relax and get a good nights sleep."

<Christopher> "I wasn't talking about sex." Chris gave her a sheepish grin. "But now I know what's on your mind."

<Kat> "What can I say? I enjoyed the other night." She grinned. "But for real, I probably need to try to get some sleep. Dr. Guthrie said that to call the nurse when I was ready. And she thinks the restraints help keep me in the bed. So that's something."

<Christopher> "I won't argue with her.... she'll have Bobby frost my chestnuts." Chris took the risk of giving her a better kiss now that it seemed her mood was lightening. "And if it's restraints you need for a better nights rest I can help with that." He gave her another teasing smirk. "But really Kat... I want you to try the inhibitor if this doesn't help and things keep going south." His face quickly shifted to his worried look that he had perfected in the waiting room.

<Kat> "I'm still against using the inhibitor. I need to visit with Professor Maximoff or with somebody who can actually phase." She pushed the thought of her conversation with Hope and Shinobi out of her mind. Kat reached for the nurse call button and indicated to the nurse that she was ready for sleep.

<Christopher> "I know Kat. I don't like using them either, but it wouldn't be long term. Just long enough for you to get some sleep. And I'm sure Pietro could help you figure out a lot of different things you could do. Guy is like a humming bird on crack but he's smart."

<Kat> The nurse came in to give Kat her medicine. Kat quickly became very drowsy. "Stay with me?" She asked, struggling to stay awake. "We can worry about the inhibitor later..." She trailed off and closed her eyes.

<Christopher> "Yeah, and as long as they don't kick me out I'll be here when you wake up." Chris kissed her forehead and made sure she was nice and tucked in completely.